20 Conservation Science W. Aust. 5 (2) : 20–30G. (2004) Wyre Management of the Western Shield program: Western Shield review—February 2003 GORDON WYRE1 1 Acting Director of Nature Conservation, Department of Conservation and Land Management, Locked Bag 104, Bentley Delivery Centre, WA, 6983. [email protected] INTRODUCTION population decline. This re-establishment would be achieved primarily through translocations. Another key feature of the initial plan for Western Shield This paper has been prepared to give an overview of the was its expansion to incorporate broad scale operational management of the Western Shield Program in terms of feral cat control once a proven technique that elicited budget and technical planning, coordination and population recovery in native fauna had been proven. resourcing. In so doing it provides a background to the The essential elements of the initial Western Shield development of the program, the current management proposal were to recognize that the Department of arrangements and some thoughts for the future on Conservation and Land Management was in a unique possible variations to the current management model. The position to conduct a broad scale fauna recovery program thoughts for the future are based on experiences gained in the south-west and west of the State due to the through the initial 6 years the program has been operating. following four key features of Western Australia. They take into account the desirability of balancing the • The very significant and largely contiguous system of need for minimizing overhead costs, so as to maximise State forests managed for conservation and other operational resources, while also providing sufficient conservation reserves. management control to avoid waste of public and • The ready availability of a poison bait that was: community resources. - guaranteed for supply through the State’s Agriculture Protection Board; INITIAL CONCEPT FOR WESTERN - equivalent to a naturally occurring toxin that did SHIELD not pose a threat to native fauna; and, - proven to be effective in fox control in a range of habitats such that Critical Weight Range mammals Targeted recovery of fauna exhibited rapid population recovery in baited areas. The initial proposal for the Western Shield Program • The availability of source native mammal populations (Burbidge et al. 1995) was essentially to take the for restocking of areas depleted of natural biodiversity. experience gained from successful feral predator (fox) • A community that would not only tolerate, but baiting projects and translate this into a broad scale baiting embrace and support such a broadscale wildlife program that would recover a wide range of fauna species. recovery project. A number of projects had been undertaken with fox baiting coinciding with population recovery of a range of The 1995 proposal (Burbidge et al. 1995) had the native fauna species including black footed rock wallabies following vision. (Petrogale lateralis lateralis), numbats (Myrmecobius The fauna of south-western Australia has been severely fasciatus) and woylies (Bettongia penicillata). fragmented. At the community level, many ecological A particular focus of the proposal was the Critical communities have been virtually destroyed. At the Weight Range mammals (35 g to 5.5 kg; Burbidge and species level some animals are extinct, some have been McKenzie, 1989) that had been significantly reduced in lost from the region and many others are endangered, range and abundance in a pattern believed to be caused surviving only as relict populations. The CWR by fox predation. The broad scale of the program would mammals have been most affected. Almost all of this allow economies of scale to maximise benefit/cost ratios. has happened during this century. However in the The program would include re-establishment of species last decade CALM has turned the tide. We have been that were locally extinct, where fox predation was successfully recovering the endangered species. Now considered to be the major cause of target species we have the ability and the will to reconstruct the fauna (excepting the species that are totally extinct). Management of the Western Shield program 21 In doing so we will be rescuing our heritage, re- Species Recovery Sites (SRS) (CALM Policy Statement starting the ecological processes that were driven by No 29) designed to provide protection for existing the ‘lost’ fauna, and setting Western Australia at the threatened mammals and to allow the re-introduction forefront of fauna conservation on a global scale. of species that are locally extinct. Fauna reconstruction Ecological knowledge of threatened species has sites are not only an effective means of achieving nature increased enormously as a result of the many scientific conservation; they are also the most cost-effective projects that have taken place in recent years. Scientific means of doing so. Costs for baiting, fire management research into the causes of the extinctions and and measuring species density will be minimised when operational fox control are now both sufficiently many species are being managed in the one area. advanced for a major coordinated program of fox 2. Current fox control projects will be reviewed and those control and animal re-introductions to commence. that are clearly beneficial to threatened species will be Such a program will lead to the reconstruction, as far provided security of funding. as is possible, of much of the original fauna of the 3. The involvement of local communities in fox control, south west of Western Australia, and ultimately, the and in reconstructing the fauna, will be promoted and rest of the State. For the first time in many decades, facilitated, with the aim of eventual joint community people will again be able to see almost extinct / CALM ownership of Western Shield. mammals, such as the Western Barred Bandicoot and 4. With some special exceptions, widespread fox control Boodie, without having to travel to remote, fragile will be limited to areas of the south-west with an annual island nature reserves. Other threatened species, such mean rainfall greater than 350 mm, where cats are as Western Ringtail Possums and Malleefowl should not expected to present a significant problem. The also increase in abundance. 350 mm rainfall isohyet is set as a guide only; areas outside it may be considered for fox control if their Western Shield will lead to a major improvement in vegetation is of a type in which cats are judged likely the conservation status of many animal species. It will to have little effect on native prey species, and areas dovetail with many other Western Australian nature within it may not be suitable for species recovery. conservation and economic initiatives - initiatives such 5. Translocations will take place only after the approval as Landcare (embracing better management of of Recovery Plans or Interim Recovery Plans for the remnant vegetation), and ecotourism and threatened species involved, and the approval and environmental education, including the Hills Forest funding of Translocation Proposals, as laid down in and Landscope Expeditions. Spotlighting expeditions CALM Policy Statement No. 29. to view the south-west’s native mammals can become a major tourist attraction, adding a further draw card The proposal (Burbidge et al. 1995) also identified the for visitors to the State. Additional fox control will following aims for fox control under Western Shield benefit farmers on adjoining agricultural lands 1. To conserve those elements of the Western Australia through increased Iamb survival and more effective fauna that are declining because of fox predation. and cheaper fox control will be possible on a regional 2. To reduce fox density on conservation lands and scale. private property in Western Australia to a level that will allow the reconstruction of fauna that has become In the largely agricultural south west of the State, locally extinct because of fox predation. where the great majority of the land is privately owned, 3. To involve rural communities in fox control and in the success of virtually all conservation programs, achieving the first two aims. including the control of feral predators and the maintenance of remnant vegetation, will depend upon Recognising the need for government accountability and the support and involvement of landholders. for measures of success or failure of the investment of Coordinated community programs to control feral considerable public funds, the initial proposal incorporated predators have the potential to eliminate, or greatly a fauna recovery monitoring program to involve: reduce, target species, and so result in larger, more 1. Routine trapping and animal recording procedures visible populations of threatened species over entire carried out by CALM District operations staff as part regional areas. These results provide great benefits of their normal work load. both for nature conservation and for the landholders 2. Special monitoring undertaken by CALM scientific themselves. staff as part of the implementation of Recovery Plans, particularly where monitoring requires special The proposal (Burbidge et al. 1995) also listed the techniques (e.g. the numbat). following principles to be followed in developing and The ambitious initial monitoring plan involved up to implementing Western Shield: 40 fauna reconstruction and species recovery sites being 1. Additional fox control projects will be based on a incorporated in ongoing monitoring operations through